News Article: Athletic article on Chara

[JD1]

Anyone with access to the Athletic can read the article on Chara's upcoming 1000th game as a Bruin. it was just posted today.

The article starts stating Chara told the Bruins he would only sign if he was made captain. I find that pretty interesting.

I clearly recall a story back in the day where Jason York said the Chara / Sens negotiation went like this

Chara: i want to be captain
Sens: Daniel Alfredsson is our captain

And that was the end of negotiations. Chia Pet left for Boston with the knowledge of the Ottawa negotiations and well...the rest is history

I find it interesting. I vividly recall York making that claim and I've never seen anything that would corroborate the claim but this Athletic article certainly lends credence to York's version of events.

Click to read more...

 

[DaveMatthew]

It certainly could have been one of the reasons he left, but I doubt it was the only one. I also think he was quite unhappy with what happened to Hossa, his best friend at the time. Although I do think the organization actively choose Redden over Chara, as well.

Remember, John Muckler was bullish on PMDs being the wave of the future, and Chara was badly exposed against the Sabres the year before he left. This was the same time that Muckler drafted Brian Lee over Marc Staal, for exactly that same reason.

It turns out Muckler was right with his "speed, skill and mobility" prediction, he just picked the wrong PMDs and underestimated how good Chara was.

With that said, it's a fun thought exercise.

Would we have been better off trading Alfredsson and keeping Chara?

As much as I love Alfie, I think that yes, overall, we would have been.

 

[swiftwin]

It sounds crazy, but it's also important to remember that Alfie at the time was at a low point in his career. This was not god-like Alfie.

We had just gotten eliminated by the Sabres, off a soft play from Alfie on a shorthanded goal by Pominville. A few months later there were rumors he was about to get traded to LA for Conroy. Alfie even admitted years later that he was contemplating retiring at that time. Until he tried Chris Kelly's magic skates.

 

[2CHAINZ]

It sounds crazy, but it's also important to remember that Alfie at the time was at a low point in his career. This was not god-like Alfie.

We had just gotten eliminated by the Sabres, off a soft play from Alfie on a shorthanded goal by Pominville. A few months later there were rumors he was about to get traded to LA for Conroy. Alfie even admitted years later that he was contemplating retiring at that time. Until he tried Chris Kelly's magic skates.

Thank god he didn't try Kelly's magic gloves.

 

[stempniaksen]

IF Chara approached the negotiation with the attitude of "make me the captain or I bolt" it's gotta give a pretty big indication he already had one foot out the door, right?

There isn't a ton of precedent (now, let alone at the time) for a player getting stripped of the C and still sticking around in a prominent role. This version of things indirectly implies that the choice wasn't only between redden and Chara, but Alfie and Chara as well. Without giving Muckler too much credit, that seems like a really easy decision to make (without the power of hindsight anyways).

Seems like a bit of a pointless exercise this far removed from the situation, but it's certainly an interesting "what if" to see what this organization could have been with Chara and Hossa sticking around and Redden, Heatley (and maybe Alfie?) being the ones to walk away.

 

[DaveMatthew]

It sounds crazy, but it's also important to remember that Alfie at the time was at a low point in his career. This was not god-like Alfie.

We had just gotten eliminated by the Sabres, off a soft play from Alfie on a shorthanded goal by Pominville. A few months later there were rumors he was about to get traded to LA for Conroy. Alfie even admitted years later that he was contemplating retiring at that time. Until he tried Chris Kelly's magic skates.

Exactly, Alfredsson didn't begin his ascent to "God" until the year after.

But I just pulled up that 05/06 team on HockeyDB and my goodness was it ever stacked. Two 100+ point players, a third who would have reached 100 points if not for injuries... a top 4 of Chara, Redden, Phillips and Volchenkov... what could have been if Hasek didn't bail.

Looking at that team and comparing it to today, where we're "excited" about how well Duclair and Pageau are playing... it makes me sad.

 

[DaveMatthew]

IF Chara approached the negotiation with the attitude of "make me the captain or I bolt" it's gotta give a pretty big indication he already had one foot out the door, right?

There isn't a ton of precedent (now, let alone at the time) for a player getting stripped of the C and still sticking around in a prominent role. This version of things indirectly implies that the choice wasn't only between redden and Chara, but Alfie and Chara as well. Without giving Muckler too much credit, that seems like a really easy decision to make (without the power of hindsight anyways).

Seems like a bit of a pointless exercise this far removed from the situation, but it's certainly an interesting "what if" to see what this organization could have been with Chara and Hossa sticking around and Redden, Heatley (and maybe Alfie?) being the ones to walk away.

I think the only similar case was in San Jose. First Marleau got stripped of the C after several playoff disappointments, and then Thornton.

But I don't think those guys cared for the pressure the captaincy brought with it, so they were fine taking a backseat. I don't think Alfredsson would have.

But you're right. If at the time, the choice was Alfredsson + Redden vs Chara, it was pretty easy to make. Alfredsson was coming off a 103 point season and Redden had just put up 50 points. While Alfredsson didn't look great in the playoffs against the Sabres, neither did Chara. He couldn't keep up with Briere, Drury, Afinogenov, etc.

 

[JD1]

Exactly, Alfredsson didn't begin his ascent to "God" until the year after.

But I just pulled up that 05/06 team on HockeyDB and my goodness was it ever stacked. Two 100+ point players, a third who would have reached 100 points if not for injuries... a top 4 of Chara, Redden, Phillips and Volchenkov... what could have been if Hasek didn't bail.

Looking at that team and comparing it to today, where we're "excited" about how well Duclair and Pageau are playing... it makes me sad.

Sad indeed...we had some stacked teams in the 2000s....its too damn bad we never won a cup

 

[JD1]

A lot has been made of Chara leaving here and the decisions the team made. I've never been able to find an article with York's quote.. makes me think i heard it on 1200 and it was never in print....but i remember it and that was exactly what York said...you wonder how the franchise would have unfolded had they kept Chara...certainly that would have meant trading Alfredsson

 

[Micklebot]

Agreeing to sign as a UFA with a team that just traded away its captain the year prior and was currently without one only if they name you captain and demanding to be named captain of your current team thus striping the incumbent or forcing his trade for you to re-sign are pretty significantly different levels of demands imo.

I mean, who else would have been captain in boston if not him? Axelsson?

 

[thinkwild]

I remember alfie once responding to all the criticisms of his captaincy by suggesting he would give it up, not sure if it was that year or not.

There also seemed many games where it was looking pretty obvious that Chara was leading the team. Except more often than not when he rushed the puck up the ice it turned into an odd man rush the other way.

I still think the main reason was that Chara realized this was his ufa contract, he had established himself as one of the best dmen., and he wanted to set the bar for what that meant. While the team was looking to him and Redden to take home town discounts for the sake of the team. I still think he would have stayed had we offered him that contract even without the captaincy. If he wouldnt have then surely he wanted out and that was just talk.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Modano was stripped as well for Morrow, which I thought was really lame at the time.